


Us before the end of the world

by itotoro



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: F/F, Promare inspired, The onset of the Great World Blaze, no dogs are harmed in the making of this fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:08:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25253608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itotoro/pseuds/itotoro
Summary: Inspired by Promare: A story buried by the Great World Blazecan be read without watching the film
Relationships: Hirai Momo/Im Nayeon
Kudos: 22
Collections: Director's Cut Fest





	Us before the end of the world

**Author's Note:**

> for some background information: https://promare.fandom.com/wiki/Great_World_Blaze
> 
> Promare is a great film! It captivated my imagination four minutes in.

It was early afternoon when Momo headed home from the office, head in her hands as she sat in the seat of the subway train. Her boss had reprimanded her again today for missing some reports, then proceeded to load her with double the amount of paperwork. She was about to snap back at her boss, about to resign then and there, but didn't. Instead she took a leave after lunch, chalking it up to a bad stomach.

She exhaled, leaning on the glass window, feeling the rattle of the train on her skull. If it were Nayeon, she would have exploded at him, given the boss a piece of her mind. She would have gotten fired too.

Nayeon had been telling her to quit for the past week. There was no reason for her to stay at the job anymore, anyway. Nayeon's freelancing gigs have been bringing home more money, and Momo had been saving up the past year for her real dream of starting a dance studio. They could survive a couple of months.

The train entered a narrow tunnel, dark walls of cement close to the windows. It opened to a station and a blue sky, the train slowing to a stop beneath her. The doors slid open with a hiss and some wispy smoke. A few passengers stepped off the train.

Momo pulled her phone out of her office handbag; there was a notification of a missed call from Nayeon. There was signal in the train, so Momo shot her a text.

M: babe you called?

Immediately her phone screen lit up with an icon of Nayeon, her face pressed to their dog Boo.

The doors slid closed, and the train began to move again. Momo answered the call.

"Momo," said Nayeon over the phone. Her voice was strained and tight; she was aggravated over something.

"What is it, Nayeon?" Momo asked. Mild static interfered so she repeated herself.

"Mom's calling again." Nayeon huffed, exasperated. "I haven't answered her, I don't want to talk to her yet." There was yapping in the background, followed by the sound of a tussle as Nayeon shushed the dog. "Hold on, I'm picking him up."

Momo waited for Nayeon's go signal before speaking. "You don't have to talk to her, you know." A buzz came and went. "If she's just gonna keep talking about us."

Nayeon sighed through the call. "I know, Momo, but she's my mom. I have to talk to her."

"No you don't," said Momo, "she makes you upset." There was static for a time, so Momo waited.

"It's fine," said Nayeon, "I'm going to be fine, I'll call her first."

The static grew in intensity, then blared. "I'll be home in a bit," said Momo, but the line cut before it went through. The dial tone sounded for a while before Momo ended the call. She sent a text for good measure.

M: good luck babe. home in a bit

The news played on the tiny TV screen overhead. Another one of those fire incidents that have been cropping up recently. This time it was a traffic accident - a 50-year-old driver self-combusted in the midst of a traffic jam on the Geong-wu intersection. Momo sat up, eyes watching the pink flames emerge from inside the sedan, caught on the shaking camera of a cellphone. There were screams before the clip was interrupted, a jingle playing on the speakers. "Next stop, Gongdeok."

Momo stood, walking to the train door before it slid open. A couple of passengers got off with her - a mother carrying her toddler. The little girl looked at her with curious eyes. Cute. Momo made a funny face at the toddler, but she began to wail and cling tightly to her mother. The young woman turned to apologize, bowing at Momo before walking away.

There were less people in the subway than usual. Aside from it being off-peak hours, the news of random citizens bursting into flames discouraged any unnecessary excursions in the city. The government was a major calamity away from declaring a nationwide shut-down. Maybe Momo should quit work after all.

She descended the concrete steps of the subway platform, pressing her card to the sensor of the turnstile to exit. A flight of escalator steps made way to the street above ground, afternoon daylight filtered by Gongdeok Station's overhead roof. A less than normal amount of cars passed by, with the sound of a siren coming from a distance. Must be another one of those incidents.

Momo walked to the chicken restaurant across the street, took a left, then made her way to her home.

The siren grew louder as she walked closer home; an uneasy feeling settled in her chest, aggravated as the siren wailed louder, felt closer. She checked her phone. Nayeon hadn't even left her text message on read.

Momo broke into a sprint, not caring for the way her office handbag swayed as she ran or the way one of her office flats slipped off her foot. Her pulse quickened, muscles tense. The siren grew louder, blaring in her ears by the time she turned the corner on her street.

She felt the heat on her skin before the saw the pink flames. They frolicked on the apartment building, flares of green and blue that peeked from the second floor, rising in height with each passing second. The siren of the firetruck blared, loud and bright, as firemen arranged themselves around an open fire-hose. It did nothing to quench the flames on the burning building.

Momo ran to the crowd of residents. She scanned their faces, all various degrees of terror, but none of them Nayeon's. She halted in front of the old lady who lived a floor below them.

"Auntie, " said Momo, chest heaving, "have you seen Nayeon?" The old lady turned to her, startled, shaking her head.

Momo searched around, then approaching one of the firemen. She grabbed his shoulder, turning him towards her. "Did you see a woman, late twenties, with a small dog?"

"Miss," said the fireman, holding her arm, "I need you to step back." Momo shrugged his arm off, searching the crowd before searching the windows of her apartment. Was that a silhouette by the window?

"She might still be in there, sir," said Momo, blanching as the flames grew in their intensity.

The fireman blocked her with his frame. "Miss," he said, "it's unsafe. The flames melt straight through our gear. We need to quench them first." Momo looked towards the hosing team; the continuous jet of water fell on the base of the apartment, but the flames swallowed it on the spot. The fire wasn't going to quench any time soon.

In a burst of instinct, Momo bolted. Dodging the fireman's arms she entered the gate of the building, the heat swallowing her. "Get back here!" shouted the fireman.

Momo didn't care. Nayeon was inside.

Fueled by adrenaline she scaled the steps to her apartment door. The flames had destroyed the door lock, melting the hinges of the door beyond recognition. With no plan, Momo rammed her shoulder at the door, knocking it down.

The heat swelled, getting to her head as she entered the apartment. Their common room looked different as the flames consumed it, pink tongues of fire licking their couch and dinner table. Her throat constricted; the smoke was pungent and thick, irritating her eyes and nose, her veins throbbing from the heat as if about to burst. She crouched, scanning the small apartment for any sign of her girlfriend. "Nayeon!" she shouted. She navigated the landscape, fitting through the hallway that narrowed as flames consumed it. Meekly she tucked her face into her elbow, vision clouding with heat and dust.

She heard Nayeon in staggered sobs from their bedroom. The flames were hotter as she approached the door, her frame hunching as the heat assaulted her from all sides. She banged on the door with a heavy fist. "Nayeon!"

The sobs muffled. "Momo?" called Nayeon from the other end of the door. Ragged breathing became panicked speech. "Boo! Where's Boo?"

Momo cursed. She hadn't seen her dog anywhere. "What happened Nayeon?" She banged on the door, turning the knob. White hot-pain coursed through her fingertips; she singed some of her skin. "Open the door!"

"Find Boo!" shouted Nayeon, the pitch of her voice grating. The door didn't budge under Momo's pushing. "Check the bathroom!"

Momo slammed a palm on the door, then turned. The bathroom was at the end of the hallway, right before the kitchen. The door was wide open; Boo was a smart boy, he would have ran inside. She staggered, smoke swirling in her eyesight as she crept towards the bathroom. Her lungs filled with it, the bitter taste heavy on her tongue and throat.

Her heart surged as she heard Boo's whimpers from outside the bathroom. She fell into a crawl, feet tender from the heat of the floor, making it through the doorway. She found Boo in the bathtub, flames licking the edges of the bathroom. The faucet was open. "Boo-chan!" she called, picking him up from inside and pulling him into an embrace. The dog shivered against her chest, burrowing as he whimpered. She dipped her hands in the water one at a time-- it was lukewarm despite running fresh from the tap -- rinsing her eyes and face. It turned murky with soot. Momo held Boo tightly, taking a spare rag from beneath the sink, running it under the bathtub faucet. She covered her face as she returned to the hallway.

The flames roared in front of her, pink and green peeking through the floorboards of the hallway. Securing Boo in her arms Momo crouched again, the steps towards the bedroom door more agonizing on her feet. One tongue of flame licked at her heels. She yelped, gritting her teeth as she wiped the spot with the wet rag. It grew drier by the moment. She had no time to waste.

Momo pounded on the bedroom door. "Nayeon! Open the door!" she called, voice tight with effort. A gasp sounded from inside. "Did you find Boo?" asked Nayeon, voice muffled. "I found him!" said Momo, hand slamming the door. The hinges have melted completely, but the doorknob had fused with the frame.

She stood, the air immediately dense with heat and soot, then slamming her shoulder on the door.

"Stop!" cried Nayeon. "Get out!"

"What?" asked Momo, not stopping. With one final push she rammed the door loose, breaking it open. It fell on the floor with a crack; shards of it stuck to the wall, snagging on Momo's face. She hissed at the pain.

Nayeon was there, pink and green flames licking her feet. Her eyes were wide with panic, chest heaving faster and faster as she met Momo's eyes. The flames grew with intensity, a wave of heat pushing Momo back. "Get out!" cried Nayeon.

"What are you talking about?" cried Momo. "We need to leave!" Boo whimpered in her arms. She peered through the heavy smoke. Nayeon was unharmed despite her proximity to the flames. "Hurry!"

"No!" Nayeon cried, burying her face in her hands. With each sob the flames surged, bright and menacing. "It's me!"

Momo fell on her knees, the smoke too much to bear. She tried to shield her eyes, shield Boo's face, a wave of dull pain boring down on her skull. "What do you mean? Nayeon!"

She saw it, the way the flames grew as Nayeon lashed out. "I'm the flames, Momo!" cried Nayeon in anguish. "Get out!"

The flames grew, looming over them, threatening to consume the room. "What happened?" begged Momo. She pulled Boo close, keeping the rag on his snout as she wrapped herself around him.

Nayeon's eyes darted from her to across the room. "I fought with mom, then something snapped and now everything is burning, this voice in my head telling me to burn everything in sight and you need to leave me!" Nayeon pushed herself against the wall, the flames surrounding her in a circle. Her throat choked with sobs. "I don't want to hurt you!"

"I can't leave you, Nayeon." Momo whimpered, body weak. Boo squirmed, but she held him secure against her chest. Her head throbbed with the effort. The flames surged with every heave of Nayeon's chest, tounges of fire lapping at her feet, crowding around Momo. "I can't leave you here." Momo fell to the ground, every bit of her strength holding Boo in place. The floor was hot against her cheek and her shoulder.

"Momo!" The flames breathed, growing in size. It assaulted Momo's senses, her lungs filling with smoke. Nayeon's breathing grew ragged with panic, a quivering wail escaping her mouth. It hurt Momo to hear it. "Momo!"

Momo's head pounded. Nayeon was afraid, and Momo needed to reassure her. "Nayeon, you need to calm down." Momo coughed, struggling to get up. She met Nayeon's eyes, trying to comfort her through the ash and the waves of heat. She reached out a hand. "We'll make it."

She kept her eyes fixed on Nayeon's, watching as Nayeon's eyes shifted. Hesitant, Nayeon moved towards her, the flames lapping at her without effect. The flames stopped surging, Nayeon's expression moving from fear to determination. With newfound strength Nayeon took her hand, lifting her up. The flames roared around them, but Nayeon was unharmed and she held Momo. "I'm sorry," whispered Nayeon as she gripped Momo's waist, supporting her.

"We'll be fine," coughed Momo as they moved to the doorway, Boo in her arms breathing and alive. They will make it.


End file.
